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Introduction to Track Racing - What's a Wheelrace? - Introduction to Six Day racing - UCI codes
64th Zesdaagse Van Vlaanderen-Gent - 6D
Belgium, November 23-28, 2004
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Day 6 - November 28
Dutch Slipp away with the win and Stam-p their authority
But hard luck for overnight leaders as Gilmore falls ill
By Nick Rosenthal
The final day of the Ghent Six started with Matt Gilmore and his German partner Robert Bartko holding a slim lead over Dutch fast-men Robert Slippens and Danny Stam. The final evening promised to be a showdown between these two top-calibre pairings.
The Sunday session started with Slippens and Stam picking up some points in the ancillary races ahead of the main 60-minute final Madison. Then in the final of the derny racing, disaster struck for defending champion Gilmore - he had to withdraw suddenly from the race at two thirds distance, heading swiftly to the cabins where he drew the curtain. For the flying 500m time trial, Alex Aeschbach stood in for Gilmore, the announcer simply saying that Gilmore needed to see the doctor.
Bravely, Gilmore emerged to start the final 60-minute Madison, but it quickly became clear that all was not well. The attacks came thick and fast, as first Iljo Keisse and his partner Andreas Beikirch gained a lap, then the Dutch duo of Slippens Stam responded, and Gilmore / Bartko chased to get the lap back. But after 10 minutes, Matt Gilmore disappeared for a cabin visit, and five minutes after returning to the track again, he was forced to give up due to ill health. Judging by race director Patrick Sercu's hand gestures, it appears Matt Gilmore had stomach problems. Robert Bartko was left circling the track for a few minutes before the officials withdrew him - a situation that he handled with great dignity and class. That morning, he could fairly have expected to win the Ghent Six, and here he was not even finishing it. Bartko still took the time to acknowledge the crowd as he and Gilmore were given loud applause for their excellent racing over the past six days.
The race then came down to a head-to-head match between up-and-coming local hero Iljo Keisse (and partner Beikirch) and Slippens/Stam. With Keisse/Beikirch down on points, they needed to gain a lap on the field. and almost managed it. A couple of times, they were one lap up on all the other pairs, but Slippens / Stam always had an answer, and in the last half of the Madison, they managed to move a full two laps ahead of the fast Belgian and his German team-mate, the need to build a two-lap safety buffer a reflection of their concern about the threat.
In the end, Slippens/Stam even found the strength and speed to ride off the front of the bunch for much of the last 20 laps, before crossing the finish line in first place, arms aloft. The Dutch duo were clearly delighted to have finally won in Ghent after taking second place last year. Sportingly, Bartko was one of the first to congratulate them on their win.
Some excellent riding in the closing set of sprints at the end of the final Madison saw German pairing of Andreas Kappes and Gerd Dorich move up into third place, ahead of the unusual Swiss pair of Bruno Risi and Alexander Aeschbach. The composite Swiss team was formed on night five when Franco Marvulli and Kurt Betschart were both taken ill. Dorich in particular is an old favourite of the Ghent crowd, and his third place was warmly applauded.
Results
Points race 1 Gerd Dörich (Ger)/Andreas Kappes (Ger) 15 pts 2 Iljo Keisse (Bel)/Andreas Beikirch (Ger) 9 3 Robert Slippens (Ned)/Danny Stam (Ned) 7 4 Matthé Pronk (Ned)/Wouter Van Mechelen (Bel) 6 5 Franco Marvulli (Swi)/Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) 6 6 Lars Teutenberg (Ger)/Luke Roberts (Aus) 5 7 Marco Villa (Ita)/Franz Stocher (Aut) 5 8 Jimmy Madsen (Den)/Robert Hayles (GBr) 5 9 Jean-Pierre Van Zyl (RSA)/Steven De Neef (Bel) 5 10 Martin Liska (Svk)/Jozef Zabka (Svk) 2 11 Matthew Gilmore (Bel)/Robert Bartko (Ger) 1 12 Bruno Risi (Swi)/Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) 13 Russell Downing (GBr)/Dean Downing (GBr) Team elimination 1 Robert Slippens (Ned)/Danny Stam (Ned) 15 pts 2 Matthew Gilmore (Bel)/Robert Bartko (Ger) 10 3 Iljo Keisse (Bel)/Andreas Beikirch (Ger) 8 4 Marco Villa (Ita)/Franz Stocher (Aut) 6 5 Matthé Pronk (Ned)/Wouter Van Mechelen (Bel) 4 6 Martin Liska (Svk)/Jozef Zabka (Svk) 2 7 Jean-Pierre Van Zyl (RSA)/Steven De Neef (Bel) 8 Lars Teutenberg (Ger)/Luke Roberts (Aus) 9 Bruno Risi (Swi)/Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) 10 Jimmy Madsen (Den)/Robert Hayles (GBr) 11 Gerd Dörich (Ger)/Andreas Kappes (Ger) 12 Russell Downing (GBr)/Dean Downing (GBr) One lap time trial 1 Robert Slippens (Ned)/Danny Stam (Ned) 0.08.86 2 Matthé Pronk (Ned)/Wouter Van Mechelen (Bel) 0.09.01 3 Lars Teutenberg (Ger)/Luke Roberts (Aus) 0.09.03 4 Jean-Pierre Van Zyl (RSA)/Steven De Neef (Bel) 0.09.05 5 Iljo Keisse (Bel)/Andreas Beikirch (Ger) 0.09.12 6 Matthew Gilmore (Bel)/Robert Bartko (Ger) 0.09.18 7 Gerd Dörich (Ger)/Andreas Kappes (Ger) 0.09.19 8 Bruno Risi (Swi)/Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) 0.09.25 9 Jimmy Madsen (Den)/Robert Hayles (GBr) 0.09.41 10 Marco Villa (Ita)/Franz Stocher (Aut) 0.09.43 11 Martin Liska (Svk)/Jozef Zabka (Svk) 0.09.45 12 Russell Downing (GBr)/Dean Downing (GBr) 0.09.54 Derny 1 Jimmy Madsen (Den) 5 pts 2 Wouter Van Mechelen (Bel) 4 3 Luke Roberts (Aus) 3 4 Steven De Neef (Bel) 2 5 Jozef Zabka (Svk) 1 6 Russell Downing (GBr) Elimination 1 Andreas Beikirch (Ger) 15 pts 2 Matthé Pronk (Ned) 10 3 Robert Hayles (GBr) 8 4 Lars Teutenberg (Ger) 6 5 Gerd Dörich (Ger) 4 6 Franz Stocher (Aut) 2 7 Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) 8 Martin Liska (Svk) 9 Jean-Pierre Van Zyl (RSA) 10 Kurt Betschart (Swi) 11 Robert Slippens (Ned) 12 Robert Bartko (Ger) 13 Russell Downing (GBr) Derny 1 Iljo Keisse (Bel) 5 pts 2 Bruno Risi (Swi) 4 3 Andreas Kappes (Ger) 3 4 Danny Stam (Ned) 2 5 Marco Villa (Ita) 1 6 Matthew Gilmore (Bel) 500m time trial 1 Lars Teutenberg (Ger)/Luke Roberts (Aus) 0.28.79 2 Matthé Pronk (Ned)/Wouter Van Mechelen (Bel) 0.28.90 3 Matthew Gilmore (Bel)/Robert Bartko (Ger) 0.28.92 4 Robert Slippens (Ned)/Danny Stam (Ned) 0.29.52 5 Gerd Dörich (Ger)/Andreas Kappes (Ger) 6 Jean-Pierre Van Zyl (RSA)/Steven De Neef (Bel) 0.29.81 7 Bruno Risi (Swi)/Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) 0.30.05 8 Iljo Keisse (Bel)/Andreas Beikirch (Ger) 0.30.12 9 Marco Villa (Ita)/Franz Stocher (Aut) 0.30.19 10 Jimmy Madsen (Den)/Robert Hayles (GBr) 0.30.53 11 Martin Liska (Svk)/Jozef Zabka (Svk) 0.30.65 12 Russell Downing (GBr)/Dean Downing (GBr) 0.31.39 Scratch race 1 Jean-Pierre Van Zyl (RSA)/Steven De Neef (Bel) 15 pts 2 Matthew Gilmore (Bel)/Robert Bartko (Ger) 10 3 Robert Slippens (Ned)/Danny Stam (Ned) 8 4 Matthé Pronk (Ned)/Wouter Van Mechelen (Bel) 6 5 Russell Downing (GBr)/Russell Downing (GBr) 4 6 Lars Teutenberg (Ger)/Luke Roberts (Aus) 2 7 Bruno Risi (Swi)/Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) 8 Franco Marvulli (Swi)/Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) 9 Marco Villa (Ita)/Franz Stocher (Aut) 10 Gerd Dörich (Ger)/Andreas Kappes (Ger) 11 Martin Liska (Svk)/Jozef Zabka (Svk) 12 Jimmy Madsen (Den)/Robert Hayles (GBr) 13 Iljo Keisse (Bel)/Andreas Beikirch (Ger) Madison 1 Robert Slippens (Ned)/Danny Stam (Ned) 396 pts Two laps behind 2 Iljo Keisse (Bel)/Andreas Beikirch (Ger) 335 Four laps behind 3 Gerd Dörich (Ger)/Andreas Kappes (Ger) 240 4 Bruno Risi (Swi)/Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) 226 Ten laps behind 5 Marco Villa (Ita)/Franz Stocher (Aut) 143 14 laps behind 6 Lars Teutenberg (Ger)/Luke Roberts (Aus) 241 15 laps behind 7 Matthé Pronk (Ned)/Wouter Van Mechelen (Bel) 324 30 laps behind 8 Jimmy Madsen (Den)/Robert Hayles (GBr) 109 37 laps behind 9 Martin Liska (Svk)/Jozef Zabka (Svk) 110 46 laps behind 10 Jean-Pierre Van Zyl (RSA)/Steven De Neef (Bel) 216 73 laps behind 11 Russell Downing (GBr)/Russell Downing (GBr) 30 84 laps behind 12 Matthew Gilmore (Bel)/Robert Bartko (Ger) 348 Final overall standings 1 Robert Slippens (Ned)/Danny Stam (Ned) 396 pts Two laps behind 2 Iljo Keisse (Bel)/Andreas Beikirch (Ger) 335 Four laps behind 3 Gerd Dörich (Ger)/Andreas Kappes (Ger) 240 4 Bruno Risi (Swi)/Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) 226 Ten laps behind 5 Marco Villa (Ita)/Franz Stocher (Aut) 143 14 laps behind 6 Lars Teutenberg (Ger)/Luke Roberts (Aus) 241 15 laps behind 7 Matthé Pronk (Ned)/Wouter Van Mechelen (Bel) 324 30 laps behind 8 Jimmy Madsen (Den)/Robert Hayles (GBr) 109 37 laps behind 9 Martin Liska (Svk)/Jozef Zabka (Svk) 110 46 laps behind 10 Jean-Pierre Van Zyl (RSA)/Steven De Neef (Bel) 216 73 laps behind 11 Russell Downing (GBr)/Dean Downing (GBr) 30
